TORONTO – The Ontario government posted a $991-million deficit last year – and said Thursday it had beat its 2016 projections by $3.3 billion.
But the province’s auditor general says the Liberal government is “significantly understating” its deficit, which she pegs at $1.4 billion.
Ontario Finance Minister Charles Sousa and Treasury Board President Liz Sandals made the announcement Thursday as they released the province’s 2016-2017 public accounts.
READ MORE: Debt rises to $312B as province balances 2017 budget
The government attributes the results to billions of increased revenue, a cut in program spending, and smaller interest costs to service the province’s debt.
In 2016, Ontario’s auditor general Bonnie Lysyk questioned the province’s decision to include a pair of public pensions – the Ontario Public Service Employee’s Union Pension Plan and the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan – as assets on its balance sheet. As a result, she has offered a “qualified” opinion on the financial statements two years in a row.
Sandals maintains the government is following established accounting practices and people don’t care about the on-going squabble.
- Iran fires air defences at military base after suspected Israeli drone attack
- U.S. aid to Ukraine, Israel set to pass. But bills differ in one key area
- Carbon rebate labelling in bank deposits fuelling confusion, minister says
- Conservatives ask interference inquiry judge to rule elections were flawed
Comments